Mikael Löfgren won one gold and two silver medals in the Junior World Championships in biathlon in 1986 and 1989 and took two Olympic bronzes in biathlon at Albertville in 1992. His career comprised four Olympic Games, from 1988 to 1998, competing in a total of 10 events. The bronze medal in the 20 km was his only top 10 placing in individual events. In the same period he participated in 6 World Championships, achieving top 10 results only with the relay team. Despite knee problems leading to an operation, in the 1991/92 season Löfgren was second in the overall World Cup, which he bettered by winning the Overall World Cup in the 1992/93 season without a first place in a single individual race. In his career he won 21 Swedish Championships, 5 each in the 20 km individual and the sprint and 11 in the relay. Löfgren ended his active career in biathlon in 1998 at only 29-years-old even though he was in great shape, because he had suffered under Wolfgang Pichler’s harsh coaching style.
Löfgren attended the Bosön National Sports Academy and Örebro Sports University. After the sudden end of his active career, he started a painting company. In 2000, he started working at the Stjerneskolan ski gymnasium in Torsby and with the Swedish National Team. He joined US Biathlon in May 2006 as the national coach and in 2008 as the first foreign coach of the Norwegian biathlon team. He resigned in 2012 and returned to work at the ski gymnasium in Torsby.
Sweden